The Nazareth Academy Roadrunners lost against the Marian Catholic Spartans back in January of 2023, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Thursday. Nazareth Academy took a 63-51 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Spartans. While losing is never fun, Nazareth Academy can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 301st, while the Spartans are ranked 52nd).
Defeat or not, Nazareth Academy got some senior leadership from Talen Pearson and Omar Kaakaji. Pearson scored 21 points along with six rebounds, while Kaakaji. scored 11 points. That was a full 41.2% of Nazareth Academy's points, marking the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Eddie Austin, who scored eight points along with six rebounds.
Nazareth Academy's defeat dropped their record down to 8-14. As for Marian Catholic, the victory was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 17-8.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Nazareth Academy won't have much time to rest: their next game is against the Corsairs at 7:00 p.m. on February 2nd. Carmel is coming into the contest on a five-game losing streak. Marian Catholic is on the road again on Sunday and plays the Redwings at 3:00 p.m. on February 4th. Benet Academy is coming into the contest hot, having won their last four games.
